Saturday, May 1, 2010

Lawyer/Pastor Accused of Felony Theft

Accused of taking money from the trust fund accounts of residents with disabilities in his group homes, Ernest M. Beal Jr. stood trial in Allen Superior Court.

Beal, 56, is chief operating officer of Your Friends and Neighbors, a company that runs group homes in Indiana and Georgia for adults with developmental impairments. Last June, he was charged with felony theft, accused of ordering company officials to take money from the clients’ trust funds to make payroll and other operating expenses.

The trust fund holds money from clients’ Social Security benefit checks, paychecks and other income and is meant to pay for the expenses and care of the residents, according to court documents.

Beal, a lawyer, is also pastor of Faith United Church of Christ in Fort Wayne.

During opening statements, Allen County Deputy Prosecutor Tim McCaulay said Beal “borrowed” from the clients multiple times over a 3 1/2 -year period. Beal and his ex-wife, the company’s chief executive officer, each drew a salary of more than $300,000, he said.

McCaulay characterized the case as one of arrogance, greed and the avoidance of truth.

Full Article and Source:
Pastor-Lawyer Facing Theft Trial, Accused of Raids on Trust Funds for Group Homes

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

A lawyer? A pastor?

My God! What is this country coming to?

timlahrman said...

well well ... is this not interesting.... My hometown and the venue [location] of my own guardianship --- and yet I had not heard of this case. I tell ya, tight-lipped community saturated with sleaze.

Do a little google research on "The Treaty Of Fort Wayne" .... you will find the sleaze of this town touches most all of us everyday of our lives ....

Lawyer/pastor/thief --- I am certianly not surprised

StandUp said...

He was right there in a position of trust, like the spider waiting on the fly.

Anonymous said...

What's next?

Anonymous said...

These psychopaths are everywhere. Glad this one got caught.